Stamford cop-in-training nabs alleged purse snatcher

Updated 4:50 pm, Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Keeon Weston, 24, of Stamford, was spotted by an officer in training and arrested for stealing a purse from a woman on the West Side late Tuesday morning.

Keeon Weston, 24, of Stamford, was spotted by an officer in training and arrested for stealing a purse from a woman on the West Side late Tuesday morning.

Photo: Stamford Police Department / Contributed Photo

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Stamford Police Department. File photo.

Stamford Police Department. File photo.

Stamford cop-in-training nabs alleged purse snatcher

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STAMFORD — A sharp eyed officer-in training captured an alleged purse snatcher Wednesday, a day after he was accused of tearing the bag off a woman walking along a West Side street.

Daniel DeRocco was driving with field-training Officer Bill Fox near the courthouse on Hoyt Street when he spotted a man who matched the description of the alleged purse snatcher. DeRocco was among the officers who responded to the incident on Virgil Street Tuesday morning, Lt. Diedrich Hohn said.

The suspect was described as a large black man in his early 20s with an Afro-style haircut, wearing a black, long-sleeved Adidas shirt with white stripes down the arms, blue jeans and sneakers.

When DeRocco spotted Keeon Weston, 24, a homeless man living on Pacific Street, he was still wearing the Adidas shirt. Weston told the officers he was on his way to see his probation officer, but was brought to the detective bureau for questioning, where he admitted stealing the woman’s purse, Hohn said.

“That’s great we have the field training program and this proves that it works,” Hohn said. “This was a great head’s-up collar by a new officer.”

The woman was walking south on Stillwater Avenue before when she saw a man sitting on the stoop of a building between Corbo Terrace and Virgil Street, Sgt. Kelly Connelly said

When the 25-year-old woman noticed the man following her, she turned down Virgil and crossed the street in hopes of avoiding him.

The woman said the man approached her from behind, put her in a bear hug and pulled the bag with such force that he broke the strap being held around the woman’s neck. Police say that Weston then ran behind 107 Virgil St.

Another man working on the steps of a Virgil Street home told police that moments before the incident, the suspect asked him how to say something in Spanish while pointing to the woman, who was then walking down the street with her purse.

A mailman also witnessed the robbery and called police, Connelly said. The woman’s purse and some belongings were found dumped on the ground behind 107 Virgil St. She was missing $260 in cash, but a little more than $130 was left in the purse.

Connelly said Weston apparently escaped through a hole in the backyard fence of a neighboring home on Liberty Street.

He was charged with third degree robbery and is being held in lieu of a $10,000 court appearance bond.